Urban Adventures
by samsam666
Summary: Eli and Clare go on a little vacation to The United States. There are original characters. Don't hate please.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: Okay, A new story, a fresh start! I got this idea in the shower *wink wink* actually no, I was thinking that I needed to take a shower, but close enough. Just F.Y.I there are a lot of original characters in this, but don't be mad! Eli and Clare are still here, and Adam's voice. That'll make more sense later so just roll with it homes! Oh, and it's in Eli's POV.

I was just about to crawl out of bed on the first day of vacation when my phone rang. Only Clare would call someone in the wee hour of 12:30.

"_Hey Eli, did I wake you?"_

"No, I always get up this early in the summer."

"_You just got up? Eli it's almost one! You can't just sleep the day away!"_

Before I could respond, my phone began to beep.

"Hey Clare, I'll call you back, I have another call."

I answered the call and heard a voice that I didn't recognize.

"_Elijah? Are you there? This is your Aunt Carol."_

Oh Aunt Carol. I hadn't seen her in about a year, but for some reason she acted like she lived down the street instead of in an entirely different country.

"Hi Aunt Carol, it's been a while."

"_It sure has. Listen, your Uncle and I need to go out of town for a while, and I was wondering if you would like to come down here to keep your cousin Savannah company." _

Keep my cousin company? She was what, fourteen now? Surely she could take care of herself. But then I remembered her anger problems, her cutting, and her instability. Her parents couldn't leave her alone for too long before her abandonment issues sparked something huge, like a house fire.

"Yeah, I think I can come, but can I bring my friend Clare? I think that she and Savannah would get along."

"_I don't see why not. Could you be here by Friday?"_

"Yeah. I'll see you soon. Bye."

Guess it seems that Clare and I would be going on a little road trip.

+  
_Clare's POV_

I waited patiently for Eli to call me back. Summer vacation had just started, and I was anxious to see him. It took a good twenty minutes for him to get back to me.

"_Hey Clare, I have a proposition for you."_

"Oh really Mr. Goldsworthy? What would this proposition be?"

"_My Aunt and Uncle are going away for a while, and they want me to keep an eye on their daughter. How would you feel about accompanying me on this task?"_

"Sure! What city do they live in? Is it close to home?"

"_Well they live just outside of Detroit."_

"Detroit! (1) Eli they live in Detroit! We would be leaving the country!"

All the horror stories of gangs and gunshots came to mind. Not only was it in America, it was in one of the scariest places on earth!

"_Clare, calm down. They live about a half hour outside of the city. You have a passport right?"_

"Yeah, but Detroit Eli, the scariest place outside of a third world country!"

"_Clare, Detroit can't possibly be that scary. I think that you're scared of a little city."_

"I'm not scared, not at all. And even if I were, my parents would never let me go." Just then my mother stuck her head through my door.

"Go where? I couldn't help but overhear."

"Mom, Eli wants me to go to Detroit with him. Would that be okay?"

"I guess that's where you can spend the summer, instead of bible camp."

"You were going to send me to bible camp!"

"Well, it was your father's idea. If that's not what you want, then you don't have to do it."

Now I knew her game. She wanted me to be happy to make up for all of the bullshit she put me through.

"Thanks mom."

Eli had been listening to the entire conversation, and I could hear him chuckle in the background.

"_Well Clare-bear, it looks like we are going on a little trip."_

"Don't sound so cocky Elijah. No one said that I would like it."

"_Ouch Clare, that one really hurt."_

"Don't push it Goldsworthy. I'm going, and I may or may not be scared of it."

"_Good. Start packing. We leave tomorrow at noon."_

After he hung up I just sat and thought. What the hell had I just gotten myself into?

End Chapter 1

Author's Note: So….. was it good? Should I continue? Come on folks I need answers!

(1) Detroit is actually really cool! And I just so happen to live near it. I may be biased.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: Yay! I'm so glad you guys like this! I was hesitant at first but now I am confident! I might be able to update every day, but don't count on it. Darn educational and social obligations.

_Eli's POV_

I was rushing to throw some clothes into a bag. I needed to pick Clare up in ten minutes, and she would kill me if I was late. I had enough clothes for a few days, but I'm sure that we could do laundry. The only thing that I was still thinking about was money. Would Clare want to go shopping, and if she did, would she bring anything? I decided to play it safe and bring some cash. I went to my closet and felt around in the back until I found the little bag that Savannah had made for me. If she knew that I still had it, she would never let me forget it. There should still be my money from working at the library for three summers straight. God I hated working there, but this was the payoff, getting to blow around a thousand dollars in Michigan. After I took out enough cash to last the summer, there was still a lot of money left. I think the head librarian may have had a thing for me, because there was no way this was minimum wage. But now I only had five minutes to get to Clare's house.

_Clare's POV_

Of course Eli is late. He probably didn't start packing until this morning. He was the one who orchestrated this little excursion, and now he was going to be late. How predictable. I had gotten about four days' worth of clothes into a small suitcase, along with around a thousand dollars that my mother insisted that I take. I guess it was smart. I didn't know how much I planned to spend, but with conversions and whatnot, I had better play it safe. Eli pulled up to my house in Morty.

"Hey. Are you ready?" he asked.

"Yeah, are we going to go to the bank first?"

"Only if you want to Clare-bear."

"Well I do. I would rather convert money here than well, there."

"Afraid someone will steal our fancy Canadian money?"

God, he was so irritating sometimes. I got into Morty and waited for him to start it up. Once it was started a song came blaring on. Eli was about to turn it off, but I stopped him.

"I like this. Who is it by?"

He looked at me, shocked.

"Well Saint Clare, this is The End. by My Chemical Romance. (1).Who knew you would like something so alternative."

"I'm a mysterious woman Mr. Goldsworthy."

We laughed for a while, but then listened to the rest of the album. I had to say, they were a lot better than I expected. Once we got to the bank, we were talking and laughing over noting. It took about twenty minutes to get everything straightened out. After it was all over, we both had about $990 in American currency. Now we could hit the road and get ourselves to Detroit.

_Eli's POV_

We had been driving for about a half hour before we had run out of things to talk about. The silence was awkward, almost suffocating. I was thinking about how much I missed seeing Savannah when Clare finally said something.

"How old is your cousin?"

"Geez, I don't know. Probably fourteen."

Clare looked stunned.

"Eli, if she's fourteen, then why do we need to watch her?"

How could I explain Savannah to Clare without emotionally scarring her?

"Savannah has had a lot of issues in the past couple years. My Aunt just found all of her old suicide notes. She also noticed that she was cutting herself again."

"Again? When did she start?"

This was getting touchy, and I guess Clare could tell because she said, "If you don't want to talk about it you don't have to."

"No, it's fine. It's just that a while ago, she kind of had a crush on me."

"Eli! You guys are cousins! Does she understand how disgusting that is?"

I couldn't help but laugh at what Clare just said.

"Relax blue eyes, my aunt isn't her mom. We're only related through marriage."

Clare still looked concerned.

"Even so, what does her liking you have to do with her issues?"

This was getting really in depth.

"Clare, when she was in grade six, she would only talk to me. I was the only one who could calm her down when she was having an anxiety attack. When she would get suspended from school, her dad would call me first, so I could get her to talk about what happened. Now she's doing a lot better, but for some reason, she's cutting again, and my aunt is really worried."

"You never told me why she started in the first place."

I sighed and didn't answer for a while. I really did love Savannah, but it was hard to think about how destructive she was.

"Her mom, not my aunt, was using a lot of drugs since Savannah was six, and when her parents got divorced when she was eight, she was living with her mom. All of the bullshit around her really messed her up. Now she lives with her dad, and she can only see her mom for two hours a week during supervised visits."

Clare was silent, but what could she say.

"Eli, oh Eli, that poor girl!"

"Yeah. She was worst when she was in grade six. For a while I was the only one who would even talk to her. She's Jewish, and when she had her bat mitzvah last fall, I was so proud to see how many people came to support her, but mostly, it was amazing to see how beautiful she looked."

I was starting to tear up, so I turned the soft music up. We sat in silence for the rest of the ride. Clare just looked ahead, and occasionally grabbed my hand and squeezed, as if to say "Hey." Sometimes I would squeeze back, replying with an equally awkward "Hey."

Author's Note: AWWW! I'm glad I ended it there, but fear not, for I might be able to update tomorrow afternoon. I got a little emotional when I wrote that, since it's loosely based on my life. I didn't cut, but I was pretty messed up. I'm all good now, but sometimes it's good to remember the past.

(1) My Chemical Romance: The best thing that happened to the entire universe.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: Sorry for not updating! I am a horrible person! *Cries into hands.* I have been suffering from writer's block! And post- My Chemical Romance concert syndrome! The buzz still isn't gone. I have been eating a diet of wild berry skittles and instant oatmeal.

_Clare's POV_

Eli had really opened up about his cousin. He said that she had a crush on him when they were younger. I shouldn't feel threatened by this, but for some reason, I do. I can't worry about things like this. Not with Eli anyway. KC was extremely cold, and then he went and knocked up my replacement. Eli would never do something like that to me. I was getting sleepy from the car. Eli and I would have fun there, unless we got mugged. Being mugged, shot, or brutally raped (1) would really put a damper on our trip.

_Eli's POV_

We only had around five minutes until we reached the border. I had nothing to hide, but I needed to be careful with that sort of thing. For some reason, border patrol didn't take kindly to teenager dressed in black driving hearses. I made a mental note to be nice, and turn the satanic death metal down when we got there. I should also wake Clare up too. Those guys would never think a nice girl like her would voluntarily get into a car with a guy like me. They might even think I drugged her, and was going to smuggle her out of the country. For some reason, Clare liked me a lot. Sometimes even I have to question her sanity. Even on the day I first saw her I thought, _"She's too good for you Eli, so don't even try."_ I must have said something right, because here we were, about to go on an adventure in Detroit.

_Clare's POV_

Eli shook me awake when we were at the border. The man in the booth glared at Eli for a minute, and then asked for our passports. I handed mine to Eli, who passed both mine and his through the window. He looked them over slowly, as if checking to see if they were real. He looked like he was going to say something, anything so that we couldn't go farther, but he just handed Eli our passports and glared at us some more. After a while, Eli finally spoke.

"I thought for sure he was going to say something about Morty."

"Yeah, he looked like he was about to, but since our passports are legitimate, he couldn't say anything, could he?"

We were driving across the Ambassador Bridge now, and I could see all of the tall buildings get closer and closer. To be honest, it looked just like Canada, only dirtier (2). The water looked beautiful, but it also looked dangerous. I couldn't see anyone actually enjoying the water; they were just standing around it. If anyone knew it would probably be Eli.

"Eli, how come no one is actually in the water? I can only see people standing around it.

Eli smirked at me and said, "Clare, that's because most people know not to go into the Detroit River if they want to be seen alive and without some sort of major defect again."

"Is it that dangerous?" It was weird to think of a river as dangerous, it was just water.

"It's not dangerous, it's just really, really polluted. It makes me sick to think of people abusing the earth like they do."

Eli rarely let this tree hugging peace loving side of him show. Whenever he did, I paid attention to what he said, as it was usually important. Sometimes I wonder if he was deep, or afraid to show his emotions. Whichever it was, I knew one thing; Elijah Goldsworthy was one of the most amazing things that happened to me. I used to think that Taylor Swift was full of it when she sang sappy love songs, but now I think she had a point. Eli is definitely the best thing that has ever been mine.

Author's note: So...yes, no, ching chong potato? I would like reviews! Maybe then I'll update faster! No, that is not a threat, it's a promise.

(1) A little intense, yes, but I felt it necessary.

(2) This is a fact, Detroit is actually almost Canada cool!


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: You guys really seem to like this. I'll try to update more, but remember: I am human.

_Eli's POV_

Clare was sleeping peacefully next to me and had been since the ordeal at the border was over. I could see her chest rise and fall, simulating a deep REM. Clare was just so beautiful to me, it made me smile to see her look so peaceful. The tall buildings were surrounding us with steel and brick. It was strange to see so many people on the streets, just begging for money, food, anything that would help them. It was sad to think about how good my life is, while so many people were suffering.

I was starting to get hungry when I saw a small diner called "Nathan's" (1). I pulled into the tiny parking lot and shook Clare gently.

"Hey blue- eyes, are you hungry?"

She looked alarmed at first, but then nodded. We got out quickly, and walked over to the door. There were a few small booths, and one counter up front. Clare and I walked over and the woman handed us two menus. We sat down at a booth near the door and looked it over. Clare looked for about a minute before she decided on a grilled cheese. I settled on a Reuben sandwich, and we decided to slit some fries. I went up to the counter and placed our orders. The woman there popped her gum and asked if we wanted it for here or to go. I told her that we would take it to go. I sat back down with Clare and told her that we should eat our food outside.

"I don't know Eli, I don't know if I want to just sit on the curb."

"Don't worry, there's a little garden between the buildings across the street, we'll eat there."

"Alright. The food is done, so let's go pay and get out of here."

_Clare's POV_

We got our food and ran across the street to the little garden. The building on the left had a banner that read "U of D Jesuit Law School" and the building on the right had a plaque that read "Saints Peter and Paul Jesuit Church". People were going in and out of the school and some would go into the church. I took a bite of my sandwich and found that it was one of the best grilled cheese sandwiches that I had ever had. Much better that what the Dot was making anyway. Eli sat next to me and slowly ate his sandwich. I watched him chew, and wondered what he could be thinking about. We didn't talk until I got up to throw my trash in a garbage can.

"Clare, are you sacred to be here?"

I had to think about it for a while. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but I wasn't sure yet. I just shrugged my shoulders and walked towards him.

"Let's keep driving; we only have a half hour left."

We crossed the street once more and jumped into Morty. The rest of the drive through the city was quiet, until we go onto the freeway.

"This is going to be fun", he said, but his tone told me otherwise.

"Eli, are you having second thoughts? We can't just turn around and go home."

"No, it's not that, I'm just nervous to see Savannah again. I wonder how hanging around her for a while will feel, it's been so long since I saw her, and that was for only a day."

"I'm sure that we'll all have a blast. If she idolizes you, how bad can she be?"

He chuckled and turned the music up. I heard angry words being drowned out by a bass drum. I really just tuned it out and went back to sleep.

_Eli's POV_

Clare was asleep again, so I turned the music down so she wouldn't wake up. The kid in the car in front of us was making faces at me through the window. I had three options, flip him off, ignore him, or make faces right back. No matter how much I would love to do the first, I decided that the youth of America didn't need any more corruption, so I just made a face back at him. His car changed lanes before he could respond, and I just kept driving forward. More cars sped by. Minivans, smart cars, a few porches, this was just another highway. I got off on the exit for Southfield Highway, and started looking for Ten Mile (2) road. When I found it, the mundane office buildings seemed to melt into apartment buildings, gas stations, and the occasional Starbucks. I passed the synagogue that Savannah went to. It was still small, still cute compared to the Jewish center next door. I drove into the parking lot to avoid having to turn left at the intersection. There was only one other car there, a beige PT Cruiser with racecar flames and peace slinging bumper stickers. If my memory served correctly, that meant the Rabbi was in today (3). I turned out of the parking lot and onto Church Street. I knew that I didn't have to drive through any neighbor hoods to get to the house, but I didn't feel like driving on any major roads today.

I drove past houses, turned corners, stopped at the proper signs, until I reached Coolidge. There were cars zooming past, obviously in a rush to get to wherever they needed to be. I drove across when I could, and entered a little neighborhood. I couldn't help but notice that the roads sucked (4). There were more little streets to turn down, more tall trees to spit leaves all over my windshield, more fucking pot holes to make the car shake. Finally I turned onto a familiar street. The houses were a little bit smaller and there weren't as many trees, but it somehow seemed even better because of it. I turned into what may possibly be the shittiest driveway in existence and turned off the engine. I looked up at the house. It was just another two story house on just another street, but for some reason, it felt like a piece of me. I hadn't even been here in a year, but it still felt like home.

Author's Note: Okay, I have finally updated. I am going to update Demons soon, and possibly start a new fic. It wouldn't be Degrassi though, so I might not post it on here. I may even get a beta reader for Demons, I'm not sure yet.

(1) Nathan's is the best diner in the entire world. Maybe not the world, but certainly in Detroit.

(2) Ten Mile is not Eight Mile. The scariest thing on ten mile is the JCC (Jewish Community Center)

(3) My Rabbi's car is like that. He also plays the banjo and does magic tricks.

(4) The roads in Michigan suck monkey dick, and that is a fact.


	5. Chapter 5

Author's note: Alrighty then folks, here's chapter five! I must warn you that the character Savannah is based on me, and will be using "strong language". You have been warned. Also, I am working on an epic saga that I may post on live journal. Links will be available once I actually make progress.

_Eli's POV_

This was it, the moment of truth. I was here at her house with Clare. I walked up the front steps and up to the door. There didn't seem to be anyone home. I pulled open the screen door and knocked a few times. No answer.

"Shit, Clare, no one's here."

Her forehead crumpled, her eyes getting huge,

"What do you mean no one's here? Your cousin can't have just wandered off."

Actually, that sounded a lot like her. But she knew that I was coming, so she wouldn't have just left. I was about to call Aunt Carol when I heard giggling coming from the tree in the front yard.

_Clare's POV_

Just as I looked up at the tree in the front yard, a tall girl jumped from the branches. She was tan, with wild curly black hair. This must be Savannah. Once she was down, she did several cartwheels on the grass. When she straightened up, she ran over to Eli.

"Well, it certainly took you long enough to get here."

Her voice was full of sarcasm, even more than I had heard from Eli. I had to admit, she had a gift. I was so lost in my thoughts that I didn't realize the two of them standing at the door. I stumbled across the uneven pavement and up the concrete steps.

The inside of the house was normal, if not plain. There only seemed to be four rooms on the ground floor, but there were stairs leading to a basement, and more stairs leading to what I assumed were bedrooms. Overall, the house was as normal as normal could be. I may have been a little disappointed, I mean, after all Eli told me about Savannah; I sort of assumed her house would be full of quirky things. I guess I could discover all of the little details as time went on, but right now, nothing seemed obvious.

Eli looked happy, like he was in a familiar environment. He had been here before, so I guess he would be used to it. He turned to face me and said, "So, this is Clare, and she is my girlfriend." Hearing the words come from Eli's mouth so easily was a bit of a shock. Normally, he cringed at such labels.

"Well, she seems nice. Don't be a dick to her though, she seems like the type who will fuck you up."

I was shocked at her language but Eli just chuckled, like this was normal for her. There was a silence for a few moments, until Savannah spoke again.

"You must be Clare, I'm Savannah, but there are a few people who call me Vans, because of my choice footwear, even though I prefer Converse." Before I could respond, she had me in a bone crunching hug. When she released me, she picked up one of my bags and started up the stairs. I was a bit winded, but I guess anyone would be. I had only been here for ten minutes, and Savannah had already treated me like her friend. This could be interesting.

_Eli's POV_

I walked up the familiar stairs, heard the creaking of the wood, and unto the second floor. I knew which room would be for Clare and I, I had slept there so many times. I opened the fourth door in the hall and saw the cheery yellow walls, the old bed with brown sheets, and the window that looked onto the yard. It was the same as it had been a year ago, but still different. It may be because Clare is here now. I may have become happier now that we're together, or I may have grown up, but for some reason, the yellow paint was less annoying than usual.

Savannah practically dragged us out of the room, so she could give us a tour of the house. Down the stairs again, to the living room with a piano and stuffy furniture, the dining room with an almost empty china cabinet, to the kitchen, and to the back room. That may have been my favorite room of the whole house, besides Savannah's room. There was wood paneling on the walls, a black carpet, black couches, and an overstuffed brown chair. It seemed to be the coziest room of all of them. There was a TV in the corner, and shelves full of books. I could see classics like Huck Finn, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Tom Sawyer, and of course the Bible. Besides the King James Bible, there were Korans, books on Buddhist teachings, Jewish ideas, and a book on Hinduism. Leave it to my uncle to collect every religious manuscript he could get his hands on. Not that he was a religious man; he just had them for the irony of it all. Savannah was getting impatient with me already.

"Alright, alright, I want to show you my room."

We walked back up the stairs and in front of the door to the second room. I had been in there so many times before; I couldn't tell what the big deal was. She obviously had a surprise on the other side of the door. I hope she finally got rid of the pink paint and the flowers. I held my breath as she slowly turned the knob.

"I want you guys to close your eyes, alright," she said.

I did as she told me, and let her drag Claire and me into the room. When I opened my eyes, I saw a completely different girl reflected on the now dark purple walls. There were posters everywhere. Movies that ranged from Harry Potter to Inception, actors that I knew of like Zac Efron, and some I hadn't like Stephanie Leonidas, musicians like Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, and bands I never knew she got into, like My Chemical Romance and Mindless Self Indulgence. The walls were almost covered in posters alone. Pictures filled a corkboard above her extremely messy desk. That hadn't changed. Savannah never seemed able to get rid of anything unless it was being replaced by something else. She also didn't seem able to clean her room very well, although I probably shouldn't say anything about her room being messy, considering my own room at home. Clare walked around some dirty clothes and over to the corkboard full of pictures.

"These are really nice, when did you take them?" she asked.

"Oh, those are from camp last year. I'm going again in July. I really had a lot of fun there."

I had forgotten about her love of her camp. She had been going to some Jewish camp, but they kicked her out for being too violent. It seemed like a miracle when she got a scholarship to a fine arts camp the next year. She played trombone in a jazz band, and was in a Shakespeare class. The postcard she sent me wasn't very detailed, but she spent almost an hour on the phone telling me about it when she got back home. Now she was telling Clare all about her experience there, and I could tell that Clare was honestly interested. I chuckled a little. Poor Clare didn't know that Savannah could talk until she passed out from lack of oxygen. I took the opportunity to look around the room some more.

Her bed was covered in stuffed animals. There were bears, unicorns, dolls, even an alligator. There were two mirrors that I could see, one on the back of the closet door, and the other on a small table that was covered in cosmetics. The mirror on the closet was covered in stickers. Some of them looked like the kind you peel off of clothes, which say the size over and over. I wonder why she had them there. The other mirror had writing on it. I recognized the sloppy misshapen letters from all of the letters and postcards Savannah had sent me. The words formed a border around the center of the mirror. The one at the top was largest and read, "I am not afraid to keep on living", which I recognized from the My Chemical Romance song Famous Last Words. If that told me anything, it was that my cousin wasn't as sad as she used to be.

Savannah being happy was just such a new idea to me. She was always my angst filled cousin in Michigan, never ever truly happy. Now she was, and I couldn't help but feel like a proud parent, seeing her like this, chattering away to Clare like nothing really mattered. I felt like I could be happier now that she was. I felt almost whole.

Author's note: I'm really sorry for taking so long to update this. I had a case of writer's block, even though that is no excuse for not updating. I'm sorry I put you guys through such anguish. Any who, I'm going to get cracking on my epic saga, and I'm going to try to keep up with this too. I think that this may be 15+ chapters. I'm not sure yet. I also have an idea for a short story that I may put up somewhere. So yeah, review your little hearts out, and don't be shy, I am always open for criticism.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: God, I feel so bad for taking so long, but to be honest, I'm not really sure how to continue this. If I get struck with inspiration somehow, I'll post a new chapter. I guess what I'm trying to say is, that after this chapter, Urban Adventures is going on a sort of hiatus. I'd rather post once every month or so, than regularly update with shit. I hope you won't hate me for this. Also, I moved my other stuff from Live Journal to Deviant Art, so I'll put a link to it on my profile thing.

Clare's POV

I really thought that Savannah was going to be as dark and mysterious as Eli, but she was so bouncy. It almost seemed that she was jumping out of her skin. Whatever the case, she seemed like a good kid.

After she showed us her room, she let us get our things unpacked. She told us to get our bathing suits out, so we could go to the library, and then the pool to meet up with her friends. The community she lived in seemed to be really nice, although I hadn't really had any time to explore it. There were, however, a large amount of trees. I hadn't seen a house without a tree in the front yard. If the amount of trees could indicate how nice a neighborhood was, then this was possibly the nicest place I had been to. "Clare, are you ready to go?" Eli interrupted my thoughts about trees.

"Yeah," I responded, "just let me get my shoes on."

I slipped on my sandals and went downstairs with Eli. Savannah was waiting for us in the kitchen with a tote bag on her shoulder. She was tapping her foot, impatient. We shuffled out the door and into the sunlight.

The library was about half a mile away, but it was warm out, birds were singing, sun shining. It took about twenty minutes, but with Savannah chattering away about who lived in what house, the names of streets, and just general talk. By the time we got to the library, she had exhausted herself, and was silent, but not for long. Sitting on the front steps was a boy, tall, tan, and very handsome. When the two saw each other, they hugged so tightly, I thought I heard bones crack. I thought it was sweet, but Eli didn't look too pleased. He stopped dead in his tracks and glared at the boy holding Savannah. I couldn't see what the problem was. We hugged like that all the time. I didn't think that Eli would get possessive about this.

Eli's POV

I didn't know why I was so angry. Maybe it was because Savannah was only fourteen. I honestly didn't think that anyone so young should be hugging a boy like that. I watched as he let her go and smiled down at her. After what seemed a lifetime of goo-goo eyes, Savannah finally spoke. "So I need to introduce you guys. This is my cousin Eli and his girlfriend Clare. They're from Canada," she nodded to the boy, as if Canada were some cool place "Eli, Clare, this is Dominic." So the guy had a name. He was probably Italian, not like I cared. I stayed silent while Clare said her hellos. I don't care what people thought, I just didn't like the idea of her having a boyfriend.

I must have been thinking for a while, because Clare was waving her hand in front of my face. "Eli, come on, we're going to the pool now," she said.

The pool was outside to community center next to the library. We walked across the parking lot to the door that led to the locker rooms. Before we got within ten feet of the door, Savannah handed Clare and I two plastic cards. "What are these?" Clare asked.

"Pool passes. For some reason, they want everyone who doesn't have one to pay ten bucks. That," she said, "Is blatant theft. So, I got my parents' passes for you guys to use."

Clare looked shocked for a minute, and said, "That would be dishonest!" Savannah smirked and said, "Don't worry, my parents don't even come here. Wouldn't you want them to get their money's worth?"

Clare sighed and took the passes from Savannah's hand and handed me the one labeled "Adam". I didn't think that my uncle would be much of a swimmer. I guess the family package was cheaper.

We walked into the lobby area and watched as Savannah and Dominic handed the man behind the counter their cards. He didn't even look up from his magazine as he scanned them. Savannah motioned for us to move forward after he handed their cards back. Clare hesitated only for a second. Quickly, she handed the man her card and tapped her foot on the ground. He swiped it without even looking up and handed it back to her. He then did the same for mine. We were in.

I followed Dominic to the men's locker room. He was about a head taller than me, and fucking muscular. He probably played football or some shit like that. I never thought that Savannah would ever like a guy like him. And then I thought that I was being a fucking asshole. I didn't even know this guy, and I was already judging him. I needed to stop this pettiness right now.

"So, how long have you known Savannah?" I asked.

"Since around first grade," he said, "But we didn't get close until the eighth grade. I really like her. I think that I'm going to ask her out soon."

That surprised me. I guess I had assumed that they were together. He was probably in the same boat as I was when I first got close to Clare.

"How do you plan on doing that?" I asked. Relationship drama wasn't my thing, but I guess after a year of Degrassi, I would be at least a little intrigued. He sighed a little and said, "I have no fucking idea."

Clare's POV

Savannah and I were outside of the men's locker room waiting for Eli and Dominic to come out. I didn't feel too comfortable with being around her, since I had only known her for a few hours. She, however, acted like we had been friends for life.

"So Clare," she said, "Eli told me about you when I last saw him."

I was a little shocked at this but I let her continue.

"It was in the fall," she went on, "And he came down here to see us. All he would tell me about Degrassi was this beautiful girl, who had these amazing eyes and was just really amazing in every way. Honestly, I thought he was just being a stupid boy, but it's obvious now that everything he said about you was true."

I never knew Eli had ever felt so strongly about me, not that early in our friendship. I smiled to myself as I thought of our first kiss. It was so long ago, but it seemed like it was yesterday. I'm lucky that I get to feel his soft lips, his strong jaw, his everything. I love Eli, and hearing that just made it grow stronger.

Author's Note: Aw, I like that ending. I'm glad I got this written, because I need to finish what I start, and I'm not just going to wait until September to add to this. Also, Savannah is based on me, but I kind of toned her down a bit and made her nicer. Dominic is based on a guy I know, who is not, and never will be my boyfriend. All of the original characters are based on real people, but as I will not include real last names, you won't be able to stalk them on the internet like I do.

Reviews are nice, but since I took so long to update, I will forgive you if you don't write one.


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